Emanuel Swedenborg (originally known as Svedborg before he
was made a nobleman) and called by the French author Honoré de Balzac
"The Buddha of the North" was born on January 29, 1688 in Stockholm,
Sweden. His father was a professor of Theology and later a bishop who considered
himself to be in constant contact with angels. Even when he was young, according
to his parents, Emanuel thought that angels spoke through him. Emanuel had
an usually keen mind and he learned all there was to know about Latin, Greek,
Hebrew, Mathematics and the Sciences but his interests didn't include theology
or religion early in his life. In 1710, he graduated from the University
of Upsala, Sweden and then went on a five year long tour of Europe, as was
the custom in those times.

Returning to Sweden in 1715 he busied himself with studies of higher
engineering and science, while editing a scientific journal called Daedalus
Hyperboreus. In the following years Swedenborg wrote many scientific
books and journals, was elevated to the nobility by the Queen of Sweden,
designed a flying machine that he felt would work if scientists applied
themselves to the problem, made many engineering breakthroughs and was made
the assessor of the Swedish College of Mines. Much of his writings in physics,
chemistry, geology and atomic theory were well ahead of many others at the
time, although his writings were not widely read. By 1721 his interests
began to change to philosophy and metaphysics in an attempt to have a scientific
explanation of the origin of things and the existence of the universe. Despite
his attempts at using science to explain the spiritual aspects of life,
his studies went nowhere although he received many insights into things
that would soon develop into much more, all of which led to his taking a
spiritual path. Late in his life, in a letter to a friend he wrote that
he: "was introduced by the Lord first into the natural sciences from
the year 1710 to 1744 when heaven was opened to him"

In 1744 when Swedenborg was fifty-six, he had a spiritual illumination.
His spiritual illumination, being dreams, visions and the voices of higher
beings was described as "the manifestation of the Lord in person"
and "his introduction to the spiritual world." Swedenborg said
that God filled him with his spirit in order to spread the teaching of the
New Church in the world. In 1747 he resigned his post at College of Mines,
receiving a pension of half his pay from them, otherwise eschewing the world
for his spiritual studies. Again devoting himself to the study of Hebrew,
Swedenborg began to interpret the Bible using the knowledge he gained in
his visions. His most famous work is the Arcana Coelestia or the
Mysteries of Heaven, sixteen volumes which Swedenborg claimed was totally
given to him by God himself. Other major works are De Coelo et de Inferno
or Heaven and Hell, which is mostly extracts from Arcana C¦lestia,
Apocalypsis Explicata (The Apocalypse Explained), and Sapientia
Angelica de Divino Amore et de Divino Sapientia (Angelic Knowledge of
Divine Love and Knowledge).

Swedenborgs concepts of heaven and hell offered significant improvements
over those of orthodox Christianity. His heaven is not just a bland state
of eternal bliss of adoration and angelic singing, but rather a place where
the spirits of the dead conduct life in a similar fashion as on earth. His
hell is as frightening as the orthodox hell, but without the devil. Both
heaven and hell have social structures and governments. Swedenborg believed
both were products of the state of mind, self-created by every individual
during his life on earth. Therefore, he did not believed that Jesus at his
crucifixion died to atone for the sins of humankind, but each individual
makes his own heaven or hell. This Swedenborgian concept of a self-made,
self-chosen heaven or hell seemed to become popular again in the second
half of the 20th century.

After death, according to Swedenborg, the individual enters a transition
state, so earth-like that the spirit does not immediately realize he is
dead. The spite is met by dead relatives and friends. He goes through a
self-evaluation process after which he can choose whether he wants to enter
heaven or hell. No mater which he chooses the individual will continues
living as he did on earth: eating, sleeping, wearing clothes, carrying on
activities and marrying. The person may remarry his or her earthly spouse
or someone more compatible. It seems the choice of heaven or hell depends
largely on how the person lived on earth. Swedenborg thought selfish, materialistic
people tended to choose hell. They keep the same vices they had on earth,
only their vices in hell became more excessive and they are beaten by other
souls in hell, and not by supernatural beings of demons. An interesting
not is that Swedenborg thought all angels were human once too.

Swedenborg was a man who put anyone who met him immediately at ease,
quickly earned respect and was loved by all. Although many people discounted
his having visions of angels and good spirits as well as spiritual warfare
with evil spirits (Swedenborg would lie peacefully on his bed for days on
end in a deep trance, during the day with speaking with angels and at night
fighting demons while still having full control of his senses, with peace,
calm and total focus), no one dared ridicule him in his presence, for fear
of what he might do. Accounts of three extraordinary visions were made,
however all but one were explained without supernatural reasons by Swedenborg
himself. None of these accounts survive, except for mentions by the philosopher
Immanuel Kant who considered two of them to have "no other foundation
than common report."

Swedenborg lived the rest of his life between Sweden, Holland and London
all the while writing, publishing his works and receiving more and more
visions. Long before he died, he correctly predicted the exact date of his
death. At the age of eighty-four, when the average life span was barely
fifty years, Swedenborg died in London on March 29, 1772.

Swedenborgs views inspired his follows to establish a new religion,
Swedenborgianism, in his name after his death. The Church of the New Jerusalem
was founded in England in 1778, and in the United States in 1792. The Swedenborg
Society was established in 1810 to publish new translations of his works,
create libraries, and sponsor lectures and meetings. The religion never
became a prominent force.

Many views of Swedenborg were adopted by the 19th century Spiritualists.
They totally rejected his hell and divided his heaven into seven spheres
which the soul passes through after death.

The survival of Swedenborgs ideas and their penetration of the
general population is mainly due to intellectuals and writers who were influenced
by them. These men include: William Blake,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Ralph Waldo Emerson (see Transcendentalism),
and Henry James. James and Emerson were attracted by Swedenborgs ideas
even though they were critical of him. Swedenborgianism seemed to greatly
influence the James family. Theologian Henry James, Sr., father of the novelist
Henry James, was a Swedenborgian. William James, son of Henry James, Sr.,
reflected Swedeborg in his philosophical works. Besides being influenced
by his family, William James took his doctrine of pragmatism from Charles
Sanders Peirce, a Swedenborgian.